Holekamp Lab
  • Home
  • Research
    • Spotted Hyena >
      • Hyena Publications
      • Carnivore Conservation
      • Communication
      • Cognition
      • Demography
      • Interspecific Competition and Anti-Predator Behavior
      • Socioendocrinology
      • Project Database
    • Arvicanthis niloticus
    • Belding's Ground Squirrel
    • Benefits of our Research
  • People
    • Kay Holekamp >
      • CV
    • Graduate Students
    • Lab Alumni
    • Lab Staff
  • Prospective Students
  • Courses
    • Study abroad: BEAM
  • About Hyenas
    • Images
  • Contact

Notes from kenya
mara hyena research

My, what big teeth you have...

5/7/2009

0 Comments

 
Author: Kate

A hyena's mouth is a pretty intimidating sight. But, as long as you're not a tasty ungulate, it's also a fascinating one.
Picture
Surprisingly, it's not those deadly-sharp canines (those dagger-like teeth in front) that enable hyenas to do so much damage. Instead, it's the rather innocuous-looking premolars, located farther back along the jaws, that give hyenas their bone-cracking abilities.

Hyenas will carefully position a bone on one side of their mouth and bite down. Hard. Really hard.
Picture
From measuring hyenas' teeth, we can gather all sorts of information about them. We can tell an individual's rank (since low-rankers must crack far more bone than high-rankers, their premolars are much more worn), we can tell an individual's age (older animals' teeth are more worn than younger animals), and whether a hyena is "right-sided" or "left-sided" (just like we prefer to use one hand to write or to throw a ball, hyenas tend to use one side of their mouth more often to crack bone).

Now that I think about it, maybe that's why our hyenas steal soap...it gives their jaws a nice rest from all that work.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About

    Notes From Kenya is a blog run by the students in the Holekamp Lab at Michigan State University, College of Natural Science, East Lansing, Michigan, U.S.A.

    You can help support our research by making a donation to the Hyena Research Fund at MSU. Your contributions provide necessary resources for the students and scientists to continue our work. Use the link to make a donation or contact MSU for additional details.

    Archives

    July 2020
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    November 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Integrative Biology Department
MSU EEBB
BEACON
Hyena conservation
© 2016 Kay E. Holekamp
  • Home
  • Research
    • Spotted Hyena >
      • Hyena Publications
      • Carnivore Conservation
      • Communication
      • Cognition
      • Demography
      • Interspecific Competition and Anti-Predator Behavior
      • Socioendocrinology
      • Project Database
    • Arvicanthis niloticus
    • Belding's Ground Squirrel
    • Benefits of our Research
  • People
    • Kay Holekamp >
      • CV
    • Graduate Students
    • Lab Alumni
    • Lab Staff
  • Prospective Students
  • Courses
    • Study abroad: BEAM
  • About Hyenas
    • Images
  • Contact